Feng Shui with Style! Working with Your Element Type

When you begin to study feng shui, you quickly realize the importance of the qualities and characteristics of the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. This knowledge is essential to selecting appropriate colors, furnishings, and accessories for your home. You can also use your understanding of the five elements to develop a personalized feng shui strategy, based on the element that is reflected most strongly in your own style of living.

Metal energy is clean, simple, and detail-oriented. Earth is lush, nurturing and comfortable. Water is free-flowing, expressive, and intuitive. Wood is ambitious, forward-thinking, and practical. Fire is passionate, excitable, and changeable. Each of us has a unique combination of these five energies in our own personality, usually with one element dominating. This is reflected in how we decorate and use our homes. Some of us developed a strong style preference at a very early age, which continues to serve and suit us well. Others go through different phases as they progress through life. You may once have covered anything that didn't move in chintz and ruffles, but now find yourself appreciating the clarity of a more sparsely decorated space - or vice versa. During an earlier phase you may have been happy with few possessions and a minimalist lifestyle, only to find greater comfort now in the abundant colors and textures of a more lavishly decorated home.

The element that is strongest in your personality right now will influence your current decorating style, housekeeping habits, and your approach to feng shui. Your experience will be more fun and more comfortable when you tailor your feng shui strategies to your element style. Let's begin by seeing which of the five descriptions below most closely describes you:

  • Neat Freak (METAL): I hate clutter! My home is always immaculate, with everything tidy and well-maintained, and I am very thoughtful about what I bring into my space.

  • Pack Rat (EARTH): I love my stuff, and can't get rid of anything. My house is so full of clutter that when something is broken I can't even get to it to fix it.

  • Free Spirit (WATER): I'm too busy being me to clean up! If something's a mess, I just toss a shawl over it. People say my home has lots of personality, and I am constantly redecorating and moving things around.

  • Go-Getter (WOOD): Housekeeping? Home décor? Don't ask me; that's what the maid and decorator are for. I just want things functional and practical, and I need a quiet place to come home to at the end of a busy day.

  • Whirlwind (FIRE): Enough of the quiz already! I have a million things to do and a short attention span-just tell me how to feng shui my house!

Many people are a combination of styles, so it may be hard to choose just one answer. If you're not sure, ask a few relatives or close friends for feedback; if you're a true Neat Freak, you may think your house is a mess even when it's immaculate by other people's standards! You may also find that you live one style, but secretly crave another. As a dyed-in-the-wool Free Spirit, for example, I regularly break the feng shui rules of good housekeeping because I'm just too busy creating, writing, and living to keep things as clean and organized as I would like them to be. But whenever I visit a Neat Freak's home, my soul goes "ahhhhhh." The trick is to be aware of what type of space you are really, truly most comfortable in. As much as I like visiting pristine, zen-like spaces, I know that I don't really want to live in one -- that if I did it would soon look just as lived-in as my current home.

Here are some guidelines, based on the element-affinities described above, to help you develop a personalized feng shui strategy:

NEAT FREAK - Your home is so neat and tidy that it may be a little rigid, sterile, or monochromatic. You tend to like the minimalist look, and are the most likely type to have all-white decor. If your furniture has been in the same position for years, look for ways to get chi moving without making more change than you'll feel comfortable with. Live plants and flowers will bring natural energy and color to your space. You may also need to add more personal touches here and there. Find a place to display a few favorite photographs of friends and family members, so there are some human images around you. Your love for clean, simple spaces and attention to detail mean you are probably on top of any maintenance or clutter issues, so focus on creating a good flow of chi through your home, counteracting any negative influences, and activating your power spots. Your clean and tranquil home is a wonderful environment for self-nurturing methods such as meditation and qigong.

PACKRAT - Your biggest problem is clutter! Closets are overflowing, you have three sets of everything, books are stacked two deep on every shelf, you've saved every greeting card you ever got, and all the flat surfaces in your home are piled with stuff. You might still be able to breathe, but your space isn't getting any chi at all! Create some breathing room in your home before you do anything else, or you'll just activate all your clutter into even greater chaos. Chances are you've been feeling a little stuck lately, so focus on getting rid of the old to make room for the new before you do anything else. Once you've cleared out enough stuff to get a good look at your house, make sure you've got a good flow of chi through the space and address any maintenance issues before making other feng shui changes. Your own chi will shift a lot as you clean out your home, so be sure to practice some grounding and balancing techniques as you go along.

FREE SPIRIT - You've been feng shui-ing your space since the day you first got your own bedroom, even if you didn't know to call it that. You are the type most likely to want to work on everything at once, so be sure to define some priorities before jumping into making changes. Your enthusiasm for creative décor may lead you to overlook basic maintenance issues and allow clutter to pile up. Take care of those first, then make sure that you are applying your individuality to your power spots rather than scattering it randomly about the place. Of all the types, you are boldest in your use of color, so get out the brush and roller and have some fun with feng shui color-theory. Make sure that you haven't overlooked any negative influences that should be corrected, and use your creativity to develop your own unique feng shui enhancements. You've probably tried a lot of different personal renewal methods over the years, but may not have kept up a consistent practice. Make a commitment to pay as much attention to the inner you as you do to your surroundings.

GO-GETTER - Your house is probably beautifully furnished and well maintained, but you may have delegated so many of your home-maintenance chores that you no longer have a strong energetic attachment to your space. Make sure you don't delegate all your feng shui tasks, too, or they won't have much power behind them. Find small, simple things you can do yourself and be sure to put some of your own energy into enhancing your key power spots. If you arrange for someone else to take care of other feng shui chores, it will be especially important to perform the body-speech-mind empowerments on each one when the work is done. Throw practicality out the window for a moment and choose one unique and unexpected item for your home that expresses the inner you others so rarely see. Chances are good you've been pushing yourself pretty hard for a long time, so be sure to make time for balance and renewal. A candle-lit aromatherapy bath will help you relax so you can enjoy your beautiful home.

WHIRLWIND - You're usually moving too fast to pay much attention to your house, but once you get into feng shui you'll want to get it all done in one afternoon. Do some planning before you begin, or you'll jump from one unnecessary embellishment to another without getting to the important stuff before you're distracted by the next exciting idea. You want to start with the wind chimes and water fountains because they look like the most fun, but if you skip over locating your personal power spots you won't know where to place them. And leaving the household maintenance tasks for later could sabotage your other efforts. You'll benefit from the discipline of empowering your changes with a daily ritual-it's an essential part of the process, and the thing you're most likely to skip! Promise yourself a massage when you're done, and splurge on a big bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece for your home, so you remember to stop and smell the roses from time to time.

Copyright © 2002 by Stephanie Roberts

About The Author

Stephanie Roberts is a feng shui consultant in Maui, Hawaii, and the author of the best-selling Fast Feng Shui: 9 Simple Principles for Transforming Your Life by Energizing Your Home (rated 5-stars by Amazon.com readers) from which this article is adapted. To find out how you can use contemporary Western feng shui to help you achieve greater success and happiness in your life, please visit the Fast Feng Shui website.

stephanie@fastfengshui.com

More Resources

Are You a Sheep in People Clothing?
Many people, who feel that they are independent and communicate well, are actually sheep in disguise. Are you one of them, how do you tell and how do you go about changing if you are?When you are able to confidently stand on your own two feet, you become in control of your own life.
Four Proven Techniques On How To Capture Positive Habits
Bad habits, we all have them. They keep us from accomplishing our dreams, make us say and do things that really aren't in our integrity.
How to Create a Thriving Prosperous Life
You only have to look around you at your friends, family and colleagues to see that there is an abundance of people who have talents, yet many are held back by a mortgage, a family, lack of confidence or some other reason.Deep inside us we all have a dream of living a thriving, prosperous life, but often we're unsure of how to navigate our way through the issues that come our way, and too many people, too often, give up and start making excuses to themselves about success being for others.
How Do You Choose To Deal With Your Life?
"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny." --Jean NidetchIt is not what happens to us in our lives that is important, but how we choose to deal with it.
Create Your Best Life
"You can create what you want in life; first you have to imagine it clearly. Imagine your ideal scene," Marc Allen, The Millionaire Course.
Recognize Desire AS Power
I just moved into my new luxurious, harborside condo, overlooking the famous Songees of Victoria, BC, Canada. Three months ago, I didn't know such a beautiful place existed and today I am living in one of the most sought-after locations in North America!The past three months have been filled with experiences of Law of Attraction at work.
What Do You Do?
When I go out and talk to business people, I hear them talking about all the things they do from day to day. They talk about the problems they have and their frustrations with a whole variety of things they do.
10 Ways to Survive and Celebrate Valentine's Day When You Are Single
Do you feel all alone and out of sorts on days like Valentine's Day when you are not in a relationship? Use these suggestions to reframe your experience and set the stage for what you want to attract for yourself. Here are 10 things you can do to make it a great day for you.
The Competition Fallacy
So many people falsely think that if they help another, they are helping the competition. This scarcity perspective breeds greed and insecurity; ultimately, people who hold it will realize that had they not been helped at certain times, they would not have had the opportunity to be where they are today.
Intuition and Instinct, Our Friends
Say the word 'intuition,' and some cringe. It sounds too new-age, too touchy-feely.
Did Your Personality Choose Your Career?
We almost all think we are masters of our own fate. While it is true that we all make our own choices there are many things that influence what we choose.
Freedom of Choice -- Learning to Make the Right Choices
Recognizing your gift of choice is liberating. This means acknowledging that you are where you are because of your choices.
The Fastest Way To Manifest Your Desires
Is there a way to change your life condition, and manifestyour desires at the fastest possible speed?YES! Definitely! There is a secret that can make youmanifest your desires in the fastest possible wayyou can imagine. I am going to share with you thissecrets now.
The Art of Manifestation
There are times in life when we wish to create something. Perhaps it is a new relationship, car, house, or a special holiday.
What is it That You Want, Honey? Discover Wealth and Prosperity with the Angels of Abundance
As you already know, the Angels are here; ready to assist us but how can they assist us if they aren't control freaks or butt-in-skees? Obviously, they don't butt in. I have never heard my Angels telling me that I "should" do something.
Mental, Emotional and Physical Prosperity
To create true, lasting prosperity, almost any guru can tell you that you must align your physical, mental and emotional states and actions. This all sounds very logical, but when it comes right down to it, most of us are not quite certain how to proceed.
Appreciation Attracts Prosperity
Did you know that appreciation is one of the most powerful forces in the Universe for manifesting and attracting prosperity? According to teachers like L. Ron Hubbard (father of Dianetics), Abraham-Hicks and Drunvalo Melchizedek, appreciating yourself and your life can literally boost you to the highest vibrations.
Law of Attraction Article: How to STOP Being a Person Nothing Works For
Do you ever wonder why great things happen to some people but not to you?Do you ever read about people who have tried this or that product and had some incredible result, but when you try it, you don't get the same result?Have you become a person who NOTHING seems to work for?Maybe you've thought about trying the some new self- improvement package that sounds great, but you're just so tired of things not working for you.Let's take a look at how you've gotten where you are and why these things might happen.
What Next?
When we are faced with making a change we often feel like we don't know what to do. The kicker is that USUALLY we do know what to do - it just happens to scare us a little bit.
10 Common Money And Success Myths - Part 3
Here we continue to discuss a few commonly held beliefs, or "myths," that hold many of us back from achieving success..

More Attraction Information:

Related Articles

Who are You Listening To?
Have you ever noticed that there is no shortage of people willing to give you advice, whether or not you asked for it? I've developed some simple rules about from whom I will accept advice and suggestions. I do not ask for heath advice from people who are sick, I do not ask for financial advice from people who are broke and I do not ask for business advice from people who are not in their own business.
Right Thinking
Nothing ever happens by chance. Everything, good or bad, that comes into our lives is a result of the thoughts we have engaged in, or by what God has ordained to get our attention.
Mental, Emotional and Physical Prosperity
To create true, lasting prosperity, almost any guru can tell you that you must align your physical, mental and emotional states and actions. This all sounds very logical, but when it comes right down to it, most of us are not quite certain how to proceed.
The Power You Possess
What you need to understand is that there is no barrier to what is possible. It doesn't matter what it looks like.
Attract Your Ideal Relationship Using the Law of Attraction
First, I'll need to explain what Law of Attraction is and how it works. You see, the Law of Attraction states that you'll attract to your life whatever you give your attention, energy and focus to, whether wanted or unwanted--emphasis on the unwanted.
Releasing Your Potential
In life, few people ever step up to live their lives at a higher level. They spend their lives wallowing in the circumstances that surround them.
Mind Your Mind
Three Secrets to Effective Affirmations:1 Drive your Physiology - by this I mean get yourself into adynamic state of mine by moving your body energetically. I findwalking quickly, cycling or jumping around the house whilelistening to loud music, all very effective for me.
How to Make Self-Improvement Work Every Time!
There is an inherent problem with the approach most people take to self-improvement of any kind. There is a presupposition that there is something wrong that needs fixing.
How to Get Rich
Got your attention, didn't I? I figured that title would get you to sit up in your chair and take notice. How to get rich? Hmmmm, let's take a second and think about how nice and wonderful it would feel to "be rich.
My Assignment ... If You Didnt Create It, Then Its Not Yours!
Life consists of lessons. Living is continual learning.
What is it That You Want, Honey? Discover Wealth and Prosperity with the Angels of Abundance
As you already know, the Angels are here; ready to assist us but how can they assist us if they aren't control freaks or butt-in-skees? Obviously, they don't butt in. I have never heard my Angels telling me that I "should" do something.
Creativity, The Law of Attraction, & Networking
Hello Creative Entrepreneurs!I hope this finds you all doing well and living & loving your passions!Today I want to talk about creativity, the law of attrcation and networking.Let's start with creativity--YOUR creativity! Creativity is limitless.
Why and How You are Caught Up?
Speed Up the Evolution!1. Check the area where you are making greatest efforts.
Communication Expert Reveals 5 Keys To Self Expression Without Limits
Peter Murphy recently interviewed communication expert John Barker. John is a professional coach and author with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts and Sciences.
Successful Living: 9 Universal Laws
1. The Law of BalanceI got an email from a wise friend the other day who had this to say,"Whenever I am out of balance in one area of my life, I usually end up binging, (going to excess) in some other area of my life.
Follow Your Dream
If you have a dream, follow it. No matter how wild, outrageous, and improbable it may seem.
Hearts Made Strong
The heart seems to be one of the most vulnerable in the system because it is the one that has held the most fear, the most old pain, perhaps, and repressed energy. It is the one that is most afraid to open to pure unconditional love, which is indeed where your power lies.
Other Peoples Opinions
In a society where interaction is part of everyday life, and other people form a vital part of life, other people's opinions are actually important in where we fit into society. However, we often think we know what other people are thinking and base our actions around those 'apparent' opinions.
Will You Be Part of the Bigger Picture?
With all the media attention you've probably become aware that there is something huge going on in the world, but are you part of this bigger picture?Day-to-day you'll be busy contributing to your household: cleaning tidying, earning money and taking care of your partner's and your children's needs as best you can. On a home front you've probably got it sorted.
Invisible Braces, Viable Solutions
Invisible braces, like Invisalign, are most popular among adults. For children and young teens, having traditional braces cemented to their teeth is almost a rite of passage.